Christmas

Food update: only one food was almost left behind. The salad. We don't really have a rule established to deem when one is "almost forgotten" versus "forgotten" so I'm just making one up now: if it's more than halfway through the meal, then we forgot it.

The weird event or discussion of the year: it had to be the pam®. Listen now, I told Brooke she should blog on this, and she deferred. I can't do it justice becausSe I was laughing too hard (complete with tears streaming down my face) to hear parts of it. So here are snippets.

--sorry for all the ® but I don't want to get sued for patent infringement--

JR (my bro): A friend had "Spam®Fest '98" at a house in Manzanita, and JR happened to be in town with his in-laws. JR located Spam® at the local market. Not just regular Spam®, thank you, but Special Edition Hickory Spam®. Knock, knock, "I have Spam®, can I come in?"

JR: "You know Monthy Python invented Spam®."

Mom: "He did not."

JR: "Yes, in my mind, he did because of the xxx episode..."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8huXkSaL7o

JR: "And there was the time Joan made a whole dinner of Spam®."

Joan: "Well we had to do something with it. Bill keeps buying all these cans of Spam®."

JR: "She made Spam®, Spam®, Spam®, and sausage Spam®."

Another thread: Mom, "There's some place in the midwest that has a Spam® festival." So out comes the smart phone. Lo and behold, there is more than one Spam festival®. One is on the delta (Mississippi? unclear) and “Women dominated the Spam® Festival. The sculpting winner presented a small bear, while another woman defeated a group of men by eating a can of Spam® in under four minutes,” said Joe. “A group of girls also won the Spam® toss.”

JR: "I ordered a special-edition Spam® from Hawaii."

Mom/Julie/Brooke in unison: "But why?"

More than one person pointed out that Hawaii is the top per-capita Spam® consumer, and not just by a little bit.

If you want to know more about Spam® (but: why?), here's a link: www.spam.com/games/Museum/default.aspx
Oh hey! Spam® is the same age as my mom!

note the "aura" shining around the Spam® museum picture.

Group tours of the museum are a popular activity. Seriously?

Update on forgetting food.

Long ago I wrote about forgetting Thanksgiving food. See: http://juliebike.blogspot.com/2009/11/thanksgiving-and-forgettin-stuff.html

Update: this year it was the cranberry sauce! Yes, near the end of dinner Mike asked, "Honey, didn't we have cranberry sauce?"

Oh, yes. Usually he makes it, but I did it this year. Two batches, one regular and one sugar-free. I put it in the "outside fridge" which means on the table on the patio.

Don't you just love traditions?

Wheelchair

Mike might be headed for the wheelchair again. In fact, we used it for shopping today. Tomorrow 8:00 am the orthopedic doc's phone is gonna be a'ringin'.

He's using the walker around the house. Taking oxycodone for the pain.

We just talked about whether we'll be able to go to the Civil War this weekend. Plan A, if he can't walk, might be to make it a day trip (camping in the trailer would be out of the question) and we would switch to wheelchair seating like we did last year. Plan B would be to get the tickets to Dianne/Joe.

More later, stay tuned. Oh, and think happy thoughts.

Post-election recap

Supposedly Clark County has a high percentage of educated citizens. My measure is a demographic that shows 22% with bachelor's degree or higher.

So WHY did the majority (barely) vote in a candidate for County Clerk (Clerk of the Courts) who has NO experience, training, or clue of what the position requires? And he will get paid over $90,000 a year. Of course he says he wants to eliminate the position to save money, but he doesn't have the authority to do that.

(Technical explanation: counties are required to elect a clerk of the courts, unless they have adopted a "home rule charter" which sets out different offices or appointments.)

The liquor store answer

Yes, Mom gets the prize (XOXOXO). Brooke and I were at the liquor store to buy

...drum roll...

Apple brandy for a recipe, not for general consumption. I've done a lot of different things with apples this fall, so the next natural step was apple butter. Yummy, although it does have a lot of natural sugars in it from the apples, apple brandy, apple cider, and apple juice concentrate. And then we add brown sugar! Although I only used half of what the recipe called for.

Fun "kid" stuff

Fun couple of days. Last night for Bill's birthday (early) at Tony Starlight's -- a Neil Diamond tribute. Bill, Ayn, me, Mom, Brooke, Nate, Dianne (and other friends of Bill's). He got geeky things for his birthday of course, including one of Leonard Nimoy's books of poetry from Brett aka Tony.

Glad I didn't drink. Had a headache most of today, possibly from MSG in the dinner and/or just plain old being up too late. Or maybe because Mike woke all of us up in the morning with a VERY loud fall in the utility room.

Breakfast was pancakes, fruit. We gave Nate part of his birthday present early, a certificate for tickets to a Ducks basketball game at the new Matt Knight Court. He had to get that one right away, because the arrangements have to be made in less than two weeks.

Dianne and I went to Freddie's in the morning, then later Brooke, Dianne, and I shopped: Target, Ikea, Columbia Sportswear. Oh, yes, then Brooke and I stopped in the liquor store real quick. Hmm, maybe I won't explain that one! Okay it's a deal: I will give my four readers a chance to comment/guess, then I will tell you later the real deal.

We came back and "the boys" were watching the Ducks game of course. The Salem group headed home. Mike and I watched a disappointing loss for the Beavers, literally lost in THE last second.

Okay, almost nine o'clock. It's time to catch up on some sleep. zzzzzzzz

Tooth, sleep, or not

Mike had a tooth extracted yesterday, 14 hours ago. The clot isn't forming, and of course we're not going to call the oral surgeon at 3:00 in the morning now. So he's sort of sleeping in his recliner, still trying to maintain gauze on the socket. And I've slept off and on in the other chair. I don't think there have been any REM cycles

The morning paper gets delivered in an hour +/-, so then I can do the crossword and sudoku if I'm awake.

Gonna try for some more sleep. We'll call the surgeon's office at 8:00 and see if I should take him back in.

C'est la vie. My translation: Life Happens.

Yes, still out here

Still here, but I don't have much of a life to blog about these days.

Sharing medical stuff just isn't appropriate (especially when it's about someone else's medical conditions). And I posted the E.R. visit two weeks ago on Facebook, so that's old news now.

Plus someone gets up and looks over my shoulder to see what I'm up to, so that's, um, awkward. Right on cue, he just walked in!

I thought I'd diverse into the weirdness of the brain. Weirdness = not the right word. Peculiarities perhaps. Anyway, I was doing some research on dementia and was reminded how hard the brain works, and how miraculous it is that we function at all. One article explained that the brain is very good at filling in the blanks, like we might do if we're working a crossword puzzle. If a dementia patient knows (or thinks they know) the front and back end of a story, the brain will fill in the rest of the blanks. So that is why the rest of the family members are bewildered when the loved one, very confidently, comes up with the most bizarre series of events in discussions. It can be frustrating to try to understand, "Why is my husband/father lying to us" when in fact they are just relating the story their brain is telling them.

The root words of dementia mean "without mind." De=without, ment=mind.

So ... if you use the above pieces of information to fill in the status of my life, have you come up with a truth? Or a possible truth that just happens to fit the blanks? Hmmm. Maybe I was making up the whole thing because I didn't blog at all in August, and this fills in a blank for September. Or maybe it's just late (for me, yes, 9:30 is late) and I need to shut down the whole brain thing for a while.

Washington Elections

For the amusement of friends and family in Oregon, here is some insight into Washington elections.

1. The primary is next month, contrasted with Oregon which was in May.
2. We are in the Portland TV/radio market, so we get the Oregon political ads. (Side note: does Chris Dudley really only have one ad? That is going to get really old with all of August, September, and October to go)
3. We didn't go to all vote-by-mail in Clark County until the last election two years ago. Crazy. Sure, we had the option to register permanent absentee, but gosh the expense of having polling places. And I believe some counties still have a mix of mail/polls.
4. There is a perpetual candidate named "Mike the Mover." That must be his legal name in order to file for office. He's running for senator. Sorry, no photo or statement submitted.
5. BUT there is another senatorial candidate named "Goodspaceguy." His picture looks like a high school physics teacher from the 60's or maybe the 50's. I haven't been brave enough to try his website (if you dare: colonizespace.blogspot.com) because it is probably similar to his voters pamphlet blurb:

"Dear fellow sheeple, I, Goodspaceguy, object to the billions of dollars of waste that I know about. We sheeple are regularly shorn, but we are the foundation of power. Let's unsabotage our economy. Vote for the small spenders. Big spenders, big government must shear you!
"In solving world problems and unsabotaging our economy, think of your Earth as Spaceship Earth. Think of yourselves as crew members, working to improve Spaceship Earth and building a job/wealth partnership. Abolish the evil minimum wage. The unemployment rate indicates how badly the current power-structure has decreased our jobs. Upward with Goodspaceguy. Study economics."

Luckily we have 13 other choices.

Honey, could you bring me a pillow?

No, Mike didn't ask for a pillow, but if I could have taken a picture of his predicament (he declined my offer of the photo-op), that's the caption I would have put on it.

The house phone rings at 9:10. I answer, and after Hello (twice), I hear "Hi, it's your hubby, in the backyard. Could you come help me get out of the raised garden bed?" Oooo-kay. He had gone off on an adventure. At dusk. Which also means the mosquitoes are biting. Not a plan I would have endorsed, but I wasn't consulted.

I will take a picture later and add it to this post to show that the terrain is not friendly for someone who is mobility-challenged.

So yes, there he was. At least he managed to fall into the one that doesn't have any plants.

Starbucks

A family member we recently visited had been a teacher for 30 years, and retired about five years ago. She decided earlier this year that she would try something completely different: Starbucks barista! And once she was working 21 hours or more each week, she would have medical benefits (the cost of which was taking about half of her retirement check).

Chris has a longer story about the types of people who work there, and the juggling of detailed orders. "Vente drip in a tall cup" threw her off the rythm!

But the best story was on her first day, with ten minutes left in the shift. She said to the leadworker, "I have ten minutes left, what would you like me to do?" The assignment: "Pick up the crafts."

Crafts? We have crafts? Chris was looking at the windows and tables, trying to figure it out.

Nicole, the lead, finally put her hands on her hips and explained, "For heaven's sake, Chris, the crafts for the milk."

Chris (the former language arts teacher) did not say anything when she finally understood: carafes. I would have just said pitcher, but Starbucks has to have their fancy labels.

Chris also soon found out they never schedule 21 hours. She stayed eight weeks.

Community Supported Agriculture

Poor Mikey still doesn't understand our CSA subscription. He keeps describing it to friends on the phone as "...we just went to Julie's son Bill and girlfriend Ayn's place to pick up some of the food from the community garden."

So the three of you who have followed my blog (if you're still out there -- I haven't posted anything in more than a month) probably already know what Community Supported Agriculture is, and the difference from a community garden. And if you heard Mike say we had a spot in a community garden, you might be puzzled as to why we would have a garden at home and another spot somewhere else.

But just for fun, here's the explanation. In short, CSA is grown by a farm, and community garden is grown by you.

CSA is where you pay a "subscription" to a farm, and get a weekly share of goodies. Each farm can be very different in what you pay and what you might get. Here's a link to a good description: www.sightline.org/publications/enewsletters/CSNews/CS_6_05_csa

Our farm is Rainway Farms, in Hillsboro (practically a stone's throw from my old high school). Bill/Ayn pick up at the Portland Farmer's Market on the PSU campus, just a couple of blocks from where they live. We paid about $400 to get 18 weekly "boxes" (bags, really) of food, June through October. They also provide (by e-mail) information on what's in each week's box and recipes.

I've been forced to try some new things. Kale is very interesting. I tried a recipe for "baked kale chips." Oops, yuck. I've found it best to cut the leaves from the stem and just put it in a salad. Turns out that kale is one of the superfoods, and 1 cup has over 200% of your Vitamin A and ascorbic acid RDA, 25% calcium, 10% iron, 5 grams of protein, and only 45 calories!

I put turnip into a root vegetable side dish. The jury is out - maybe pre-roasting them in a bunch of butter, salt, and garlic would help.

Tonight was kohlrabi in potato-chip-like slices, baked with olive oil, garlic, and parmesan. Of course that's going to go down good!

There was another recipe for radish top soup which was great. And to think all my life I've thrown out the radish tops.

Now I have to figure out how to use these fava beans. Very strange.

Oh, community garden: you all know this one, right? Rent space and grow your own stuff. In Vancouver, you can rent a 20'x20' space for $40. Or 10x10 is $20 (with age 60+ discounts, and some low income scholarships). At the old poor farm (and maybe the other locales, I'm not sure there), you can't use pesticides or herbicides.

Any way you do it, here's to good eatin'!

The news told me to call my mother

Honest, the TV news tonight really told me to call Mom.

Sure, I'm paraphrasing a tad. "If you're feeling stressed, skip the massage and call your mother."

A study out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that girls' comfort hormones (oxytocin) increased and stress (cortisol) decreased just by hearing mom's voice.

Oh, yeah, I have her on speed dial!

Duh-oh, oh no!

Rats, darn. Good news is that the cement ramp, replacing the front steps, was poured Thursday, and the "exposing" part of the exposed aggregate was finished Friday.

I took Mike to a class on making rain barrels Thursday night. And that is where the "Duh-oh, oh no" part comes in. And I KNEW this: we want to use a rain barrel to capture part of the rainwater coming from the roof, and use it in the flower gardens. This helps make up for our big impervious footprint, where rainwater can't filter back into the groundwater systems like it used to. During this class, they reminded me of what else I already knew that can help: use pervious surfaces.

We should have asked the contractor to use pervious concrete (also known as porous concrete).

Pervious concrete looks sort of like Rice Krispie treats, so it looks a lot like exposed aggregate. Water drains right through it instead of (in our case) runnning down the street and into Salmon Creek.





Maybe I should go out to the worm bin and beat myself with one of the red wigglers. Oh, wait, that wouldn't be kind to the worm.

Group pic (mostly) from Kooza

J, Di, N8, B3, C, B1, Gma, Gaarbacca : ), Mike

Escheatment

Escheatment is when property (money) is sent to the state for safekeeping, held in trust, because the original owners/claimants can't be found or checks go unclaimed.

One of our county departments couldn't get a city to take a $150 check (long story) starting in 1995. So after reviewing controls many times in this county department, we convinced them in 2006 they really had to escheat the money to the state.

We did another review yesterday. The check to the STATE never cleared.

So how do you escheat another check to the state because the money was never "claimed?" We've gotten a good laugh out of this one.

Note: we know the City's current finance manager, who changed jobs from the county, so we think the county department can work with her to finally take a check and clear the original transaction completely.

Do

Mike's progress has been very good the last few days. On Monday he was suddenly up on the walker quite a bit -- yes! And this evening he was talking about being able to get himself to the physical therapy appointment tomorrow. Um, no, I don't think we're ready for that leap yet (no pun intended).

Overall scorecard:

Movement: improving
Pain: well managed
Sleep: still a bit out of whack

So the next milestones I imagine are walking unassisted, carrying something (like taking a plate from the counter to the table or hey, from the table to the dishwasher), stairs unassisted, longer distances (perhaps walking all the way through Costco).

Go Mike go!

Don't

A few days ago in the guest bath, "Please don't be reaching for the towel bar as a grab bar. This bathroom isn't set up for you to use."

Today I hear "crash," which is just giant sirens in my head at this stage of recovery, followed by, "I'm okay."

So yes, you guessed it, he grabbed the towel bar AND the paper holder, pulled everything down. Evil eye from me, and from him "I'm SOR-ree." I just put the whole mess in the tub, deal with it later. "This bathroom isn't set up for you."

Missed Birthdays

"The legends of missed birthdays"

Legend #1:
In a great Northwest land lives a wonderful Grandmother who we will call Gma. She has several grandchildren, but we focus on the third, "B3."

Gma and Gpa were pilots, so they had the opportunity to travel quite a bit. In the winter they would often go to Mexico and camp on Baja. (That's the peninsula south of California, for those who need a reference.) In the summer and into fall, they would travel to British Columbia and camp next to one of the wonderful wilderness lakes. (B.C. is in Canada. Google "Canada" if you need to know where it is. Then sue your former school district.)

When you vacation in Canada, they say you are "on holiday" which can be a bit confusing to us Yanks at first. But Gma and Gpa usually traveled around the holidays: Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day. July 4 is not celebrated in BC of course, but July 1 is Canada Day -- and they sing "my country tis of thee" with different words, so strange ; )

Grandchild "B3"s birthday is around Labor Day, and she would feign exasperation, "You're ALWAYS gone on my birthday, Gma." This year, for the first time, B3 will be on a trip during Gma's birthday. Sounds like Cat in the Cradle! Google those lyrics, too, if you need.

Legend #2:
In the 70's, Gma's grandpa-in-law put together a family geneology book, and Gma did all the layout and calligraphy for it. Lots of beautiful but tedious work.

At the end, after printing I believe, we all realized she put the wrong birth year on her youngest child!

And so end the stories of "missed" birthdays.

Oh wait, there is one more:

Legend #3:
When Gma turned 39, a big surprise birthday party was put together. Family and friends came from far and wide. Gpa distracted her away from the house for a few hours, and when they got home she assumed all the cars were some other neighbor having a big party. Then when she saw her brother-in-law skulking around the garage, her first thought was "Why is Tom here and why is he trying to hide behind the car?" Lots of fun.

Later she asked someone (I think Aunt Char), "So why did you do all this for this birthday?"

"Well," Char answered, "because it's your 40th."

"NO I'M NOT, not until next year!"

Oops.

picture changed

Hey, I changed the header picture. Aren't you impressed. Now to get some quality time, and quality thoughts, for a new entry. Maybe I will share the inside family joke about missing birthdays : )

A story of Brad's passing

This story is not mine to tell. I will have some of the facts wrong, because it was told to my mom who passed it on to me. But the stories I have, directly, are too heartbreaking. So I will tell this love story:

When a nurse told Heidi that Brad was close to passing, Heidi called her mom (who had their son, Lato) and told her they needed to come immediately. When they got to the hospital, Lato ran in, ran up the stairs and into the room. He hugged his dad and said, "Daddy, Daddy, I love you, I love you!"

After a few moments, the nurse gently said, "Lato can you move just a little? I need to listen to his heart." Brad's heart had stopped. The nurse said, "He gave you his last heart beat."

The chaplain came with a lump of clay and asked Lato if he would make it into a flat sheet, very smooth, and showed him the dimensions. He did, and turned it over to make the other side smooth also. "Now we are going to press your Dad's handprint into this. And anytime you want to hold his hand, you can put your hand here. And as you grow up, your hand will fit into his hand."

Brad used to write Heidi and Lato a note every night, and he would sign it "Brad/Dad." Lato put "Brad/Dad" under the hand print. At the top, on one side, he drew a peace symbol, and on the other side he drew a heart.

(If you are not crying by now, you must not be human.)

And I admit to, and not apologize for, shedding tears while I type.

Ride on, Brad, ride on.
below: Lato, Heidi, Brad, Ocho

Bike ride

Yes, first ride of the season. Well, not a ride especially; how about a short excursion? Test run? Just three miles round trip to Fred Meyers, very flat. I wasn't sure if I had the legs to do the 8 mile loop, plus it was COLD this morning (about 40 degrees).

So I'm sort of off and rolling!

Next week will seem like a breeze, no?

This was a very tough week. My cousin Heidi's husband Brad passed away, but I'm not up to talking about the details right now. Luckily our extended families are close and supported, so she and their son Lato have had a huge amount of love surrounding them these last few days.

I've been trying to work on an audit, and totally expected I could breeze through it on a "regular" timeline, unlike my last audit which had major roadblocks and had to be worked on over the course of 18 months. But oh no, the day after the entrance (that's the kick-off meeting with the department I'm going to audit) we found out Mike would be scheduled for knee replacement!

So okay, regroup, I'll get as much done as I can in two weeks and then come back to it full force after being home with Mike for two weeks. But oh no, three days later I confirmed schedules and availability with my assigned liaison, only to send an e-mail the next day and get an out-of-office reply: she is in training for three days. Seriously. Snuck up on her.

So okay, Monday is a new week to really buckle down for at least one week. But oh no, out of the four staff in the area I'm auditing, one has been on leave, one was taking a week's vacation, then a third called in sick!

So working around all this, I met with their counterparts in the City's department one day, and met with the information systems people another day to get briefed on their tracking systems and interfaces, security, back-ups, etc.

Then yesterday their elected official called our elected official with a request for help in a different area. Whatever. I helped on that today, I can do a bit on Monday, then I'm off for two weeks. Paul and Linda in our office will carry on and finish the rest of that special work.

When I come back, I can plow through my original job with fresh energy, right? I am serious, there's no reason not to, and the days will be getting longer, and the flowers will be blooming!

Jerky and cockroaches

Mike sometimes talks when he naps. He didn't used to do this, and it seems to be related to the Parkinson's and the medications.

Some weird stuff can come out of his mouth. Many times he seems to be reliving some story from his old police life. Some times I can only pick out random, muttered words.

This morning is a great example of weird stuff. And maybe someone can tell me if it's a true story or just a really active imagination. Here's the closest I can come to a transcript (I was driving, so I couldn't capture it at the time).

"Last night on the TV news they were talking about preparing for disasters. And there is some jerky that cockroaches really seem to go after. The silicone plastics on some packages they gnaw, eat right through. So you have to find something to store your food stuffs in that the cockroaches can't get into."

Strange. We don't have any jerky (we do have MRE's, believe it or not). And we don't have cockroaches.

So there you go, random thought for the day.

My bro Michael

My brother Michael has cancer. Prostate cancer. He said I could blog about it, so here I am, but what do I say now?

Yes the last blog entry was also a medical issue, and I really wanted to avoid getting stuck in that rut. You know, old people comparing their scars or Grandma keeping her gall stones in a jar. I surely hope my writing here is different by just giving a little info (not TMI), a little background, a little prayer.

The few people who I know have read some postings here already know that Dad died from prostate cancer over four years ago. But it is also highly treatable, and we know more men who are survivors than not. And the scans came back showing it has not spread, yeah! Still, it gives us pause. He will be in town mid-March for pre-treatment visits at OHSU, then back in April for treatment.

I know he will be okay, but it's just not fair, you know? He is such a hard worker, and he made a big change a year ago to completely leave the construction industry. Easy choice, since the industry tanked and it had taken a big physical toll on him. He fell into nursing care as a CNA, and I can see he would be just a great personality to gently move people through their daily needs in the facility.

More importantly, he married Julie Ann 18 months ago, and adopted Logan. Logan needs both of these great parents in his life, so Michael will do what he needs to do against this latest challenge.

There you have it. A little info, a little background, a little prayer.

Surgery coming up (not me)

Mike will have knee replacement surgery March 16.

You kinda get a clue when you're in the x-ray room with the technician, and as the first picture comes up he says to you, "That knee's really shot, isn't it." I know he is not supposed to say that, but it was pretty obvious to me anyway. I should have asked if they could e-mail a copy and I would have posted it. Amazing to see the September picture with normal spacing through the joint compared to yesterday where the interior side is totally mashed down, bone on bone.

There will be four various pre-op appointments next week and one the week after. There was another message on the machine today which I think was taken care of. Lots of paperwork, plus all the leave stuff for my work (I expect to be off work for two full weeks, plus intermittent time after that for physical therapy appointments).

Hey, speaking of PT: at Mike's last appointment, before this came up and canceled future appts, we found out that the parents of his therapist live behind us and down about four houses. Small world. I guess after you see someone twice a week for three months you're going to find some connections.

We're not worried about the surgery. SW Washington Medical reportedly has one of the lowest possible infection rates.

I'm going to go watch some Olympics and try not to think about those poor knees being punished up in the other Vancouver!

Fun calorie app

Update on the Droid phone: yes we've kept them. So now I'm trying to get the most out of mine.

Today's inspiration: I saw a woman at work who has lost a lot of weight (also a bicyclist), and remembered she was talking a year ago about an app she download (back in the old iPhone days) to track calories. So I went out and found a Droid app that is loads of fun, easy, and I've only started to use it.

Number one cool thing: bar code scanner. If I have a package (box, can, bottle, whatever), the phone can scan and analyze the bar code and return ALL of the nutrition information. So at work I scanned my Quaker chewy bar, and it knew 90 calories, 1.5 fat, 1g protein, etc. Even that it was 2 Weight Watcher's points. Then I just touch an icon to add it to my food diary. Of all the foods I've scanned so far, only one was a problem: my lite yogurt scanned only as low-fat, so it said something like 175 calories when it's really 80. Easy to fix, though.

Second cool thing: restaurant look-ups. A specific drawback I found, though, is it can be limited. I looked up Chevy's (had lunch there last week), but it only brought up four menu items.

Other quick look-ups include brand names, store brands, or just food name ("banana"). And I can save meals, like if I often have chai tea and banana and cereal for breakfast, then I can easily bring that up as a group. Or building a particular sandwich or a homemade dinner dish.

Anyway, I'm having fun with food!

Another cascade!

Fairly simple project this time:

1. Install a grab bar in the master bathroom
2. Replace the toilet paper holder (also MBR); style was okay, but it will be much better to have a "hook" rather than the traditional style. Also, placement was way off (forward a foot too far!). And because the holder was being moved, I had to fill the old screw spots, re-texture, and spot paint.

3. Install the old MBR paper holder in the guest bath. Previous one in the guest bath was probably the cheapest one available, pseudo-chrome, and the crossbar was a mis-matched gold color!

4. Install a towel ring for Mike's side of our master sinks.

5. Because Mike's new ring is a slightly different style than mine, install a matching one on my side, and move the previous one to the guest bath (yes, it had the same cheap style as the previous paper holder...)

6. Move the previous guest bath towel ring to the utility room.

Ta-da.

While I'm at it: weird lists and cascades

Have you ever made a shopping list and then reflected on some of the odd combinations? Well I made a mental list yesterday of everything to put in the car for the trip to BandN8's, and here it is:
1. Hubby, which also meant his bag for after PT appointment, wheelchair, and walker
2. Small cooler with turkey soup stock
3. Chainsaw with bucket of stuff (wedges, engine oil)
4. Laptop (with tax software)
5. Granddaughter and her stuff

Forgot one thing, sorry Mom and Brooke. When we were at Mom's last week, she had a ball cap for Nate, so I offered to give it to them. But oops, it is still on the dining table. So I think a goal for today is cleaning off that table. And the cascade effect means: install the blu-ray player (sitting on that table since the day after Thanksgiving); re-texture and paint the wall section behind the china cabinet so I can take items off the table and put them back on the cabinet; figure out which of the new phones receipts and accessory boxes to keep - and where to put them.

You know how it goes.

When I take out the older DVD player, I get to figure out where to put it. Maybe hook it up the smaller TV? Or should it replace the VCR/DVD player in the trailer? Or go in the pile of electronics in a spare room? Ooh, maybe I should get on Craigslist and get rid of said pile. Anybody still need to record onto tape?

And texture/paint. As long as I'm at it, I should retexture a small spot around the corner in the kitchen. The previous owners did a smooth-ish patch there, no texture but did re-paint. And of course it's a different color than the dining area (but luckily we have the paint). And as long as I'm at it with that color, the paint around the kitchen door to outside could use just a couple of hits where they overpainted from the white frame.

And while I'm at it in the dining area, I noticed yesterday that the entry table has one Christmas thing that didn't get boxed up and into the storage loft in the garage. And while I'm at it with the entry table, we have a bunch of loose pictures there. I really should scan them and get a digital frame.

Oh, yeah, and I should copy various pictures onto my new-ish 1.5 terabyte backup drive.

Whoa Julie, back to the dining area first. I've also been wanting to take down the light fixture and spray paint over the '80's gold look (odd since this house was built in '95), plus it needs a longer chain so I can put up a ceiling hook and position the lighting over the center of the table. And one of these days re-cover the seat cushions.

Guess I better get at it! Oh, I'm on vacation today if you're wondering why I'm planning all this.

Mayo or Miracle Whip?

Since my most-commented post had to do with food (remember B.S.?), I thought I would try another.

Are you a mayonnaise person, or Miracle Whip?

I am mayo. Not slathering, dripping, slopping amounts -- see Bill III for a fan of that much goo. But definitely mayo over Miracle Whip. So much that years ago when I ordered a tuna sandwich and found it was made with Mwhip, I only ate half.

Mike on the other hand is a Mwhip guy. Oh, yes, he is also the one who likes the old B.S. Need I say more?

Maybe next time we can discuss mac 'n cheese: homemade or Kraft?

Trance of the Internet Fairies

Note: the title is a take off on "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies"

Short version: M goes on the computer to find the address of a backyard neighbor. An hour later, he is sidetracked looking at overhead pictures of the neighborhood. I go on the computer and take, oh, maybe 65 seconds to get the site address and the owner's name and mailing address (it's a rental).

TV Shows

B3 thought I should blog about how I watch "The Bachelor." Really, let's not. I've gotten sucked into it the same as some people watch, oh let's say NASCAR or WWF. Admit it, it is all about waiting for the big wreck, not for any spiritual enlightenment.

Do I like some lightweight shows? Sure. Ugly Betty for one. Quirky. It doesn't make anyone, even Betty Suarez, the hero. Everyone has flaws and problems, whether rich or poor, beautiful or not. One criticism for ABC: seriously, you had to move it to 10pm Wednesday? Seriously? I'm watching it through Hulu now. I can't stay up until 11:00.

Some other favs: Numb3rs. Bones. Sort-of Grey's Anatomy. NCIS (who doesn't love Abby). There must be something else I'm forgetting right now.

I'm not into any of the reality shows. Not desperate housewives or 2-1/2 men or most of what's on the air these days. That's probably good, so I can blog, do laundry, paperwork, crossword/sudoku, little house projects, watch Mike nap into the evening, like right now...

Anyone want to make a case for some must-see show?

What to blah-blah-blog about next?

Time to vote:
1. Weird things on the hybrid that still make us pause.
2. Food (from philosophy/psych of food to specific recipes or fabulous food finds)
3. Taxes
4. Origin of words/phrases
5. TV stuff (from current favorites to walking down memory lane -- Max Headroom anyone?)
6. Ooh, here's an idea: send me a topic (word/phrase), and see if I can make a blog of it.

But the only things at the top of my brain right now are:
1. Medical (really don't want to turn into one of "those people" who share TMI on medical)
2. House projects (did lots of little project things tonight)
3. Work

And probably none of us want to get started on
1. Politics
2. Religion
3. Sports

Thought for the day

I love this quote. Hopefully it gives you pause. It is from Bobby Kennedy on what the Gross National Product means and more importantly what it does not mean. Today we measure Gross Domestic Product, but the same concept applies:

"Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.

"Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."

Robert F. Kennedy Address, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, March 18, 1968

Tools and materials for a small project

I was going to take a picture of them all together, but I don't think they would all fit in the bathroom... My apologies to any tools or materials omitted herein.

Tools

scraper/putty knife (three sizes)
sponge
bowl
wrench
Xacto knife
stud finder
Multi-tool (cutting sheetrock)
Skil saw
extension cord
saw horse
chisel
hole saw
push broom (sweep up the sawdust in the garage)
dust pan
level
measuring tapes (three, really?)
pencil
caliper
drill (had to get a couple of those out too)
drill battery charger
hammer
ear protection
eye protection
drill bits
paint can opener
stir stick
paint pan
paint roller
roller brush
paint brush
edge painter
allen wrench
angle screwdriver
Phillips screwdriver
glue/grout gun
squeegee
vacuum (oh, yeah, had to use two different ones!)
"Dap" cap (silicone edger)

Materials

fabric softener
plastic
2x4
Sheetrock
joint tape
joint compound
sanding
spray texture
Mom's old Miller Paint color fan-stack
paint
silicone
blue tape
wood screws (just needed two; got seven - long story)
wall anchors
wall paper paste
tweezers (two splinters)
one bandage

Gas for car: multiple trips (three to Ace Hardware, two to Home Depot, one to Lowe's, two to D&L Glass, one to Vancouver Mall Sears, one to Lloyd Center Sears, one to Miller Paint, one to Salem - got a free piece of Sheetrock!)

Project: done

Okay, I'm done with the half bath.

And I'm toying with posting a list of all the tools and materials I had to use for this silly little thing.

But first, I realize I didn't have a good "before" picture, especially so you could see what the lower wall paper used to look like. It was a busy pattern for a small room and (no tears from me) had to come off since I was cutting a section of sheetrock 24" x 6", and drilling 1-1/4" holes for the new grab bar. So here you go:

How about I leave you with a happy thought for a change (look close for the message):

Argh - and not in a pirate sense

Argh, argh, argh. The grab bar and secure mount system that I was sold do NOT go together.

This morning I fiddle-farted with it for a few minutes. (One of my dad's phrases. Now that it's in print, I'm wondering where it comes from. Did he make it up?)

And I can't put the TP holder on right now. I have to drill and tap in wall anchors, but M's asleep. So I should shower and get on down to the store. Or maybe just go grunge, since they messed me up.

Honestly, this wasn't like I picked something off the shelf at Home Depot. It was from a glass company that does a lot of shower installs, so they have a large selection of towel bars and grab bars. The "guy from the back" even came out and walked me through it, and showed me a couple of my options for the bars.

I'm trying to support local business, but I may end up back at Home Depot. At which point I will take down the blind in the bedroom where the drawstring broke so I can have it rebuilt or a new one made.

Always projects...

Or maybe I should take a bike ride on this beautiful, calm, mild morning.

Project progress

Yesterday and today were good progress.

Yesterday I got the holes drilled for the grab bar supports (easy with the right tool from neighbor Andy). Got the two cross braces sawed for the sink support, one notched for the vent pipe, toe-screwed in, taped, mudded twice, sanded. Would have textured yesterday, but my existing spray can was totally clogged. Also went "nuts" and taped/mudded two small settling cracks in other places in the house. And did three loads of laundry and screwed in six replacement planks in the rotting fence and made a grocery run. Oh, and got paint because our existing hall color does not, NOT, go with the remaining wallpaper.

Today got the texture spray and sprayed, took M to PT, started homemade chili in the crock pot, spot painted to seal over all the textured areas, went to Weight Watchers, and silicone-grouted at the baseboards in the half-bath. It has to dry two hours before I can do the finish painting, so here I am blogging. I should be able to get the painting done before C's school band concert tonight. Then tomorrow I can install everything (sink, TP holder, grab bar).

And to top it off, it's turned into a beautiful sunny afternoon.

Projects

Baby steps forward today on the half-bath project. Left here around 10:30 to make a local trip for supplies. Got back about 1:30 after including a trip to Lloyd Center. Charged up the new multi-tool, made lunch, marked where the sheet rock needed to be cut out, marked where the grab bar will go. Cut out the sheet rock.

Tomorrow I'll cut the 2x4 to lengths for the bracing between studs (new backer for the sink to screw into). One of the lengths I have to notch for the vent pipe - bleh. We don't have the attachment (mandril) for the hole cutter to go on the drill. If one of our neighbors doesn't have one, maybe I can just run to Ace. Otherwise a little longer trip to Home Depot or Lowes or Sears. Then I can get the secure mount set up for the grab bars. Maybe cut the replacement sheet rock, screw it in, tape, and get an initial slab of compound on it.

That would be a lot of good progress. Also have to work in breakfast, lunch, dinner, help Mike with his exercises, run to the grocery store.

I'm really good at taking things apart. Now we'll see if I can get it put back together again.

Camping -- or not

Okay, this one is for N8. I agree that traveling in an RV (trailer, 5th wheel, camper, whatever) is not camping.

Camping requires cold, wet, uncomfortableness (pretend that's a word and move on). Hard ground. No running water, no shower. Did I mentioned hard, lumpy ground? Reconstituted freeze-dried food. Giant slugs (Vancouver Island, great park and activities, but GIANT slugs). Crows getting into the apples left in a bag on the picnic table.

RV'ing is furnace, warm inside when it's cold outside. Or cooler inside when it's hot outside. Regular stocks of food, refrigerator, stove, oven, microwave, toaster oven. Regular bed. Flushing toilet. Water heater. Shower.

Traveling -- or not

People have different definitions of traveling. Some people travel out of town for a day to visit friends. Others might say that's not really traveling, and "real" traveling must involve an airplane, or a boat, or at least an overnight away, or a passport, or a different time zone.

Whatever you call it, I would rather be getting ready for our annual "travel." We were scheduled to leave next week and be gone 5+ weeks. But we aren't mobile enough right now.

But I am taking off a week from work (week of MLK holiday). Mike will have a couple of P.T. appointments, and I have a list of things I need to get done in the trailer and around the house.

Trailer: take the bi-fold shower door out, so we can just use a shower curtain. Maybe wash it (the trailer that is, not the shower door), if we get a half-dry day (oh yeah, I live to climb on top of the fifth wheel!). See if we (I) can secure the new flat screen TV differently/better. Get one of the tail lights working. Make the bed. Put the new license tabs on the plate. maybe even put the cover on the whole thing (we've only had it two years and never used it).

In the house: like usual, general cleaning. Remove and resilicone the master shower edges. Re-grout some of the glass block wall. Oh yes, how could I forget the guest half-bath: M pulled the pedestal sink out of the wall. So I need to take it completely out of the room so I can: remove the lower-half wallpaper (it has separate top and bottom patterns with a border strip in the middle), cut out a section of sheetrock, install a nailer board behind where the pedestal sink will re-attach, re-sheet/mud/texture, while I'm at it install a grab bar in front of the toilet, paint the lower half of the walls, reinstall the sink.

In many ways, that's more of a vacation to me than driving 300 miles a day for 4 days so I can lull around for a few weeks. But I will miss the sun, and our friends, and a chance to ride my bike everyday : (

Gotta go. One of the light bulbs over me needs to be replaced, which reminds me that one of the outside garage lights went out yesterday too!

I'm so glad I'm mobile, even if I'm not on the road.

More gardening

What I miss most in the winter: stepping outside and eating a handful of strawberries (all summer, ever-bearing), and a handful of blueberries (shorter season). Fresh tomatoes. Apples in the fall.

So I'm going to pour a small bowl of applesauce right now.

Gardening

Gardening in winter? Sure. On New Year's Day, I went out and cleaned up garden areas: pulled dead geraniums, fuscias, and cleaned up the raised bed vegetable garden boxes. And since we won't be gone for our 5-6 week trip south, I'm looking at what I should start from seeds indoors. Germination time, how fast they grow, aiming for April 1 outdoors planting for some cool-weather tolerant plants, like peas. "C" discovered last year that she doesn't hate peas after all, just the cooked-to-death ones which are way different from fresh off the vine, crisp, sweet peas.

Also have to keep the neighbor cats out of the boxes, if you know what I mean. So I need to get back the big roll of weed barrier I loaned to a friend. Or have him cut off three 4'x8' pieces.

Need to plant some pansies in the empty pots for a little winter color.

Not gardening related, but could turn into it: I need to call the concrete guy who did lots of work for us before. Can we modify our entry from three sets of two steps into a continuous slope from driveway to front door? Well, sure it can be done. The real question: how much will it cost? And how fast can it be done? Because as soon as he finishes, Mike will probably be completely mobile and not need the change.

And, bringing the blog back to gardening, then Mike can get back to helping with yard work!